As well known, the Internet is an expansive source of information. Internet users seeking information generally access the Internet via computer applications known in the art as “Internet browsers.” Various different Internet browsers are available (e.g., Internet Explorer® by Microsoft Corporation, Safari™ by Apple Computer, Inc., Blazer™ by Palm, Inc., Firefox® by Mozilla Corporation, Opera™ by Opera Software ASA).
Referring to FIG. 1, in a typical networked computing environment 10, client computer systems 12, 14, 16, 18 access information by downloading (or simply “loading) “web pages” (or “webpages”) from the Internet 20, where one or more of such web pages are maintained (or stored) on a server computer system 22. More particularly, the client computer systems 12, 14, 16, 18 use resident Internet browsers to load and display web pages from the Internet 20.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that not all of the information contained in a web page may be displayed through the Internet browser at one time. Instead, a user may have to navigate through (e.g., “scroll” up and down and/or left and right) a web page to find particular information. The amount of navigation needed to locate particular information on a web page increases as (i) the display size of the Internet browser decreases due to, for example, smaller computer screen sizes, and/or (ii) the amount of information contained in the web page increases. In some cases, having to navigate too much for a web page can impair the user's ability to effectively use that web page. For example, referring to FIG. 2, which shows a screenshot 30 using a typical Internet browser, the user sees little substantive content at any one time and may have to scroll down considerably to find particular information on the web page.
In regard to display sizes, when using a smaller display size, the amount of web page information that can be displayed at one time decreases. By decreasing the amount of web page information that can be displayed at one time, a user on average will have to navigate more to locate particular information on the web page relative to a case where a larger display can be used to display the web page information.
In regard to the amount of information contained in a web page, when more information is contained in the web page, a lesser percentage of the total web page information can be displayed at one time. Thus, a user on average will have to navigate more to locate particular information on the web page relative to a case where the web page contains a lesser amount of information.
In an effort to streamline web page loading and displaying, various web page hosts make available what are generally known in the art as “RSS” (RSS has been used to refer to, for example, “Really Simple Syndication”, “Rich Site Summary”, “Resource Description Framework [RDF] Site Summary”, and “Real-time Simple Syndication”). RSS is a format that relies on extensible markup language (XML) code that constantly scans the content of a web page for updates and broadcasts the updates to subscribing users through an RSS “feed.” The updates are usually presented as one line links and/or short summaries, without images, advertisements, and other extraneous information.
RSS feeds are typically used with news web pages and personal web page logs (also referred to in the art as “blogs”), although any web page can use an RSS feed to disseminate information. A user can typically freely subscribe to receive one or more RSS feeds through use of an RSS feed reader (also referred to in the art as “aggregator” or “news aggregator”). The user can add an RSS feed of a web page to his/her RSS feed reader by either (i) selecting an RSS button on the web page or (ii) entering a web address of the RSS feed. Further, those skilled in the art will note that in addition to being available on traditional computer systems (e.g., personal computers (PCs), laptops (or “notebooks”)), RSS feeds can also be read on handheld computing devices (e.g. personal digital assistants (PDAs)), cellular phones, and portable e-mail devices.